And so the "first man, Adam, was made a living soul; the last Adam [Christ] has become a life-giving Spirit," so that now we may fitly sing together: "Holy Spirit, faithful guide, "Ever present, truest friend, IX THE PROBLEM AND PROCESS OF OF BEING ACTS-11: 14-40 We have considered thus far in this series the basis for Christian being, the incarnation, the resurrection, the forty days' teaching, the ten days of prayer and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In the last named subject we saw a new type of being brought into existence in the personnel of the twelve apostles. If this is a new type of being, it follows that there will be a new problem and a new mode of existence. To note this problem and to understand the law whereby this new type of being is to perpetuate and mature itself will be our task in this present dis course. As to the problem. If an organism has been miraculously created full grown, it is evident that it has not had the experience of growth through the different stages of development from infancy to maturity, from weakness to strength. It is also evident that the food best suited to the proper development of the individuals within the species, in the various stages of growth, will be a big problem. It is only by costly and prolonged experiment that we come to know what kind of plant life is best suited to the various altitudes, longitudes, fertility of soils, regularity and length of seasons, etc. Only by prolonged study do men come to know the kind of food best suited to the proper growth of domestic animals in their different stages of development. So also in the working out of a schedule for the gradation of children in educational systems. The proper fortification of the individuals against the external forces that may seek to destroy, neutralize or swallow up this new being in the days of weakness will offer no little problem in finding a place for itself in the great world of being. The more so since we are taught that "nature abhors a vacuum. 99 This being true, it will be necessary for this new life force to make for itself a place in the world of nature. In this it will have to intrude itself into, or infringe upon, the territory already occupied by other beings. This phase of the problem will be enlarged if it shall develop that there are other species of being in nature which are very similar to this new form. Thus we can see that the nearer the approach to identity, the greater, more complex and more delicate is this phase of the problem. Yet, if this new order shall approach very nearly to identity with other species in nature, but still main tain its own distinctive individuality, it will thereby manifest the power of its virility. Now what are the facts in the case? First of all, the apostles were miraculously created fully developed products of this new type of being Christian being. I anticipate that it may be urged that they had been with Jesus during His ministry of over three years and had thus grown to maturity. To this it may be answered that the problem of Jesus' ministry was not only to explain the coming kingdom or religion, but also properly to interpret the religion that had been; the Jewish religion. If His ministry formed a fitting prelude to the coming religion, it was no less a postlude to that which was passing. If there was in it seemingly the fusing of the two, there was also apparently the confusing of not a few, with respect to the latter. This is seen in the conversation with Nicodemus, the young lawyer, and in many instances with the Pharisees. It is also apparent in the conduct of Peter, in the use of his sword at the arrest of Jesus, in his denial at the trial. In the fishing expedition after the crucifixion and also in their question to Him at the last meeting just before the ascension. It is true that the things that Jesus had said to them were to be brought to their memory by this new personality who was soon to take possession of them. But this could not be said to be of the nature of a normal growth or development. Rather was it the miraculous illumination of their minds, and the Spirit's interpretation of the things Jesus had said, in the light of the latest developments. "He shall take of the things of mine and show (interpret) them unto you." The point which I am wishing to bring out is that these apostles had not come up through the system of Christian ethics by which one is now to attain to Christian maturity, by normal and natural processes; but that they had attained Christian maturity by the aid of miracle, and that their problem is now to produce and develop to maturity Christian beings by some natural and normal process. In the second place, they do not have a personal experimental knowledge of the food best suited to the proper growth and development through the various stages to maturity. In the next place, it will take a powerful mantle of protection for this infant, lest he be swallowed up by some external foe or annihilated by some force or combination of forces out in the great world of nature. An infant in the jungles of Africa would stand little show of coming to maturity unless protected in some way. Moses in the bulrushes of Egypt had little chance of life until the hand of providence, in the person of Pharaoh's daughter, spread the mantle of the royal palace over him as a shield and protection. Joseph would never have been heard from had not the hand of providence led him up the way into |